Army Ranger Soldiers Deaths Possible Friendly Fire

Army Ranger from Kettering dies in Afghanistan anti-ISIS raid Pentagon says
Military investigates possible friendly fire
WCPO Staff
Apr 28, 2017

An Army Ranger from Ohio died in Afghanistan Thursday, the Pentagon said in a news release.

Sgt. Cameron H. Thomas, 23, of Kettering, was killed "supporting Operation Freedom's Sentinel" in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, according to a release from U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

Thomas and one other soldier, Joshua P. Rodgers, 22, of Bloomington, Ill., were killed as the result of "small arms fire while engaged in dismounted operations," the Pentagon said in a release. Both soldiers were stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia. A third soldier was wounded.
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Homeless Veteran Sits in Jail Because No Room At State Hospital?

Homeless veteran in jail, no space at state psychiatric facility
ABC 12 News
By Terry Camp
Apr 27, 2017

SAGINAW (WJRT) - (04/27/17) - A homeless veteran has been found incompetent to stand trial after he was accused of carjacking a woman and smashing that car into a police car.

He remains in jail and his attorney says that's wrong, but he would like him to be put into a state psychiatric facility, but there are no beds available - a problem that a state official says is getting worse.

Willie Hill is an Army veteran who has a long criminal history. His last run-in with police was in October, when he drove the car he stole from a woman right into a Michigan State Police car. The trooper and Hill were not injured. A judge ordered a forensic exam for Hill.

“The forensic center did a psychological interview and found him to be incompetent to stand trial at this time,” said Jim Piazza, Hill’s attorney.

That means Hill should be sent to one of the state's five psychiatric hospitals for treatment.

“They have to make him competent within 15 months or the case is dismissed,” Piazza said.

A month after Hill was ruled incompetent to stand trial, he remains in the Saginaw County Jail because the state has no available space at its psychiatric centers.
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Air Force Wife Not Jealous Hubby Has Another Love in His Life

Ohio Air Force Sgt. reunites with military dog after 3 years apart
FOX News
Cristina Corbin
Published April 28, 2017

The two last saw each other in 2014. The reunion last week was made possible by American Humane, a Washington-based nonprofit group, which funded the costs of bringing Emra home to retire on U.S. soil.

Wylie and Emra, pictured above, were reunited April 20 in Cincinnati.

(American Humane and Crown Media Family Networks/Brian Douglas)

For U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Adam Wylie, "Emra" -- the 9-year-old Belgian Malinois he was forced to leave behind in South Korea -- was more than a service dog.

The canine filled the void of family when Wylie, a 12-year veteran of the armed forces, was deployed from 2012 to 2014 in South Korea where he was stationed around Osan Air Base.

"She meant the world to me," Wylie, 33, told Fox News.

The two -- separated for three years -- were reunited April 20 in Cincinnati in a heartwarming reunion that at first seemed improbable. Emra had retired as a service dog due to old age and the beginnings of arthritis -- and was living thousands of miles away from her former handler.
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Two Service Members Killed in Afghanistan, One Wounded

2 US troops killed, 1 injured in eastern Afghanistan 
AP 
 Apr 27, 2017

The U.S. forces were accompanying Afghan troops on the raid when they came under attack by the Islamic State Khorasan group

WASHINGTON — Two American service members were killed and another received a minor injury during a ground assault against Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan Wednesday, according to the U.S. military.

The U.S. and Afghan troops had flown in by helicopter then advanced on foot. The raid was in Mohmand Valley, the same region where the U.S., two weeks ago, dropped what is called the "mother of all bombs" on an IS complex. read more here

California Trying to Help Deported Veterans

California lawmakers consider legal aid for deported vets
KPCC 89.3
Dorian Merina
April 27, 2017

"When someone is willing to die for this country and give us everything that they have ... we just thought it was time to figure out a way to get them back home." Gonzalez Fletcher

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Antonio Romo holds a picture of himself from his days at boot camp, as he stands next to the U.S. border wall on the beach in Tijuana, Mexico. Romo is one of dozens of U.S. military veterans who were deported after criminal convictions and have fought for years to be allowed to return. GREGORY BULL/AP

The California legislature is considering a bill that would provide state-funded legal aid to deported military veterans. It has drawn bipartisan support and is headed for a possible vote on the Assembly floor next week.

The measure, AB 386, would commit the State Department of Social Services to contract directly or indirectly with a nonprofit legal group to provide assistance to immigrant veterans with green cards who have been deported following an honorable discharge.

"It's very hard once you've been deported to go into immigration court and argue your case to come back," said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), the bill's author.
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